Zephyr was diagnosed on August 22, 1998 when she was 5 months old. We were
fortunate in some ways as diabetes was not an unfamiliar disease to us.
Zephyr's dad has had diabetes since he was ten. At first we too tried two
shots per day of Regular and Nph, but trying to convince a toddler to eat
on schedule is impossible. Next we tried using a combination of Humalog and
Nph. With this our control got a bit better, but only because we were
giving her 8-10 injections per day in an attempt to let her eat when she
wanted. Meanwhile we are also diluting her insulin as her tiny body needs
so very little. When my frustration hit rock bottom, I finally heard my
husband's pleas to try an insulin pump on Zephyr. (He had been on an
insulin pump for four years.) Okay, we were convinced, now how could we
convince her doctors and our insurance company? It took a month, but we
finally got all of the approvals and Zephyr got her pump the week between
Christmas and New Years. Due to our doctors' schedules we could not get
scheduled to start on the pump until the end of January. So for one month,
we all practiced. Zephyr wore the pump itself for a week. For an adult, the
weight is next to nothing. For a toddler, it is a something to get used to.
Next we taped an infusion set on her without inserting it and attached it
to the pump. She never pulled it off. And lastly we did a saline trial so
that we could get used to the new calculations. We had some rough spots at
the beginning and in some ways it was like starting all over again, but the
learning curve is faster. Our biggest message is that toddlers CAN wear
pumps and don't be afraid to dilute! Zephyr currently gets humalog diluted
1:10. The pump has actually brought a degree of normalcy to all of our
lives and on Zephyr's second birthday she ate birthday cake, (or Happy Cake
as she calls it!), without having us fear what it would do to her blood
sugar!